IRELAND will face a playoff to reach Euro 2020 after a draw with Denmark in their final qualifier.
Mick McCarthy’s side finished the campaign in third place in Group D after they couldn’t come away with the win they needed from their final match.
Martin Braithwaite put the visitors ahead in the second half leaving the home side needing two goals to go through.
Matt Doherty levelled the game up late on but the Boys in Green couldn’t get the goal they needed.
The draw for the playoffs will take place on Friday of this week.
Here’s everything you need to know about Ireland’s Euro 2020 qualifying group:
Euro 2020 qualifying Group D table:
This table will be updated after each round of fixtures:
Euro 2020 qualifying Group D results:
Round 1:
Saturday March 23rd:
Gibraltar 0 Ireland 1
Georgia 0 Switzerland 2
Round 2:
Tuesday March 26th:
Ireland 1 Georgia 0
Switzerland 3 Denmark 3
Round 3:
Friday June 7th:
Denmark 1 Ireland 1
Georgia 3 Gibraltar 0
Round 4:
Monday June 10th:
Ireland 2 Gibraltar 0
Denmark 5 Georgia 1
Round 5:
Thursday September 5th
Ireland 1 Switzerland 1
Gibraltar 0 Denmark 6
Round 6:
Sunday September 8th
Switzerland 4 Gibraltar 0
Georgia 0 Denmark 0
Round 7:
Saturday October 12th
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
Denmark 1 Switzerland 0
Round 8:
Tuesday October 15th
Switzerland 2 Ireland 0
Gibraltar 2 Georgia 3
Round 9:
Friday November 15th
Denmark 6 Gibraltar 0
Switzerland 1 Georgia 0
Round 10:
Monday November 18th
Ireland 1 Denmark 1
Gibraltar 1 Switzerland 6
How can Ireland qualify for Euro 2020?
This part of the European Championship qualifiers works the same as the usual qualifying structure with the top two teams in each group advancing to next year’s championships.
Ireland however will likely have a chance to benefit from the alternative qualifying route should they fail to finish in the top two: the Uefa Nations League.
Despite Ireland’s abysmal campaign at the end of last year that saw them relegated to the third tier of the competition, The Boys in Green are as good as guaranteed a play-off place if they fail to qualify automatically.
MOST READ IN SPORT
In short, the only way Ireland would fail to get a spot is if six countries from Leagues C and D qualify automatically.
Ireland are ranked 23rd by Uefa, meaning the only way to fail to get a play-off place — if needed — would be if eight sides ranked higher also do not qualify.
For that to happen, six teams from Leagues C and D would have to advance automatically.